Duterte pastor’s assets frozen as manhunt, standoff continue

A Philippine court has ordered the freezing of bank accounts and properties of megachurch founder Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted locally and in the United States for alleged sexual abuse and is the spiritual adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a 48-page resolution dated Aug. 6 but released to the media only on Thursday, the Court of Appeals issued a freeze order on the pastor’s 10 bank accounts, seven real estate properties, five motor vehicles, and one aircraft.

Quiboloy, a close friend of Duterte, is the target of an arrest warrant but he has managed to evade a nationwide manhunt. Police said he was believed to still be in the Philippines and hiding in plain sight inside his sprawling church compound in southern Davao City.

In its ruling, the court said it found reasonable grounds to believe that the bank accounts of Quiboloy were “linked to unlawful activities and predicate crimes” such as qualified human trafficking, sexual and child abuse, sex trafficking of children, fraud, conspiracy, marriage fraud, smuggling, and money laundering, among others.

The order takes effect immediately and will last for about a month. It also covers the bank accounts of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, which Quiboloy heads and is believed to have 6 million followers in the Philippines and abroad, and his media arm, the Swara Sug Media Corporation, which operates the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).

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Attorney Mark Tolentino, SMNI’s legal counsel, said they had filed a motion to stop the freeze order.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, a person or entity’s bank accounts, real estate properties, and personal assets may be frozen if authorities find sufficient reason to do so.

Still inside the country?

Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, the police director of the region who has jurisdiction over Davao, said Quiboloy was still in the country and could be inside the 30-hectare KOJC compound where he is being protected by his followers. Quiboloy has a 10 million peso bounty (U.S. $170,760) for his arrest. 

“All the indicators say he is there,” Torre told reporters, noting that the compound has its own private tunnel, which connects it to an airport.

Police informants, including those from inside the KOJC, have reported having seen Quiboloy in the area. He said the police raided the area last month but found no trace of the pastor. A further search of the area could not be carried out to avoid a possible confrontation with the church members.

“They parked a fire truck outside the compound and admitted that they will use it to hose down policemen as an act of self-defense, according to their lawyer. However you look at it, it is not justified,” Torre said.

He said the police were in constant negotiations with Quiboloy’s lawyers to make them understand that “the only way for this to be resolved peacefully and with justice for all is for him to submit to the jurisdiction of the court.”

He said the police were prepared to storm the gates again but were considering the “safety and wellbeing” of Quiboloy’s followers. “We don’t want them to get hurt or for blood to spill,” Torre said. 

Torre said police were closely watching Quiboloy’s two jets and four helicopters to ensure that they don’t get off the ground, because the private hangar is connected to the Davao International Airport.

Quiboloy, 73, is wanted in the Philippines for alleged child and sexual abuse as well as trafficking, while also facing the same charges in the United States.  

In November 2021, a U.S. grand jury charged Quiboloy on suspicion of orchestrating a sex-trafficking operation that allegedly coerced girls as young as 12 to have sex with him or risk “eternal damnation,” federal prosecutors said.

U.S. prosecutors said the televangelist allegedly recruited girls and young women, ranging from 12 to 25 years old, to work as personal assistants or “pastorals” at his church. KOJC has branches in California.

Under the charges brought against him by U.S. federal authorities, Quiboloy faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of sex trafficking, and five to 20 years if convicted of fraud and money laundering.

In June, ex-President Duterte accused the government of persecuting Quiboloy, calling the raids on the televangelist’s known properties in Davao City “overkill.”

Quiboloy founded KOJC in 1985. The sect, and his name, grew in national prominence when Duterte was elected president of the Philippines in 2016.

In March, Quiboloy’s church appointed Duterte as the administrator of its properties, while he went into hiding to evade being arrested.

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